


He's a Keeper

by Vizkopa



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, ReptileKeeper!Drake, Zoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-26
Updated: 2018-01-26
Packaged: 2019-03-09 18:36:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13487340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vizkopa/pseuds/Vizkopa
Summary: You fell in love with his voice, his intelligence, his evident love and passion for his work, his wonder and excitement over every creature, no matter how venomous or deadly, in his care…





	He's a Keeper

It was a Sunday afternoon, 1:45pm, and you found yourself in the same place you did every week—the reptile house at the local zoo. Despite your best efforts to stay away, once again you waited eagerly for the zoo’s daily reptile talk and encounter. It was a new species every week—this week was all about the carpet python—but you didn’t come for the snakes or the bearded dragons or snapping turtles. Not entirely. What drew you in was the head reptile keeper himself.

His name was Drake, a fact you could only glean from the name on his badge as you had never gathered up the courage to actually talk to him. Instead, you would only listen and admire from afar as he delivered the reptile talk every Sunday, and from the very first word you’d heard him speak in that smooth, deep voice, you had fallen hard. Ever since, you had found yourself returning again and again just to hear him talk, and your interest had only grown from there.

A small crowd had gathered in anticipation of the presentation, mostly school groups and their chaperones, and you kept to the back to avoid notice. You simultaneously hoped and dreaded that one of these days Drake would notice you, though by the end of the awkward conversation that would undoubtedly ensue, you’d likely only feel like crawling into one of the hollow logs alongside the reptiles in their enclosures.

But all fears were suddenly swept away when he stepped out from the ‘employees only’ entrance with a large snake wrapped artfully around his arms and shoulders. There was a round of gasps and a few screams from the smaller children, but you barely took any notice. You were too focused on the man who was gazing fondly at the creature as he took his place on the low platform before the crowd.

He bowed his head at the smattering of polite applause and introduced himself and the snake in turn. “Isn’t she beautiful?” he added with a grin that could have melted you where you stood. “Lamia here is a carpet python, or _Morelia spilota_. They are sometimes called diamond pythons because of the diamond patterns on their bodies…”

His blue eyes seemed to be scanning the crowd as he talked, as if he was looking for something. Then his gaze landed on you and stopped. You felt your heart skip a beat as his face lit up and his mouth curved in a lop-sided smile. He winked at you discreetly before turning his attention back to the crowd, though his eyes wandered in your direction every so often, and you blushed every time they did so.

You were starting to feel uncomfortably warm, and, as much as you wished you could lay the blame on them, you doubted it was solely the fault of the heat lamps in the reptile enclosures. How this man could have such an effect on you, you’d never know. Sure, he was handsome—very much so—but even if you were blind, you were sure you could still fall in love without ever knowing what he looked like. With his voice, his intelligence, his evident love and passion for his work, his wonder and excitement over every creature, no matter how venomous or deadly, in his care…

“Thank you all for listening. If you enjoyed my talk today, I’m here every Sunday, but we have all sorts of events on every day of the week. I hope you enjoy your visit today and that we’ll see you all again soon.”

You snapped out of your daze just in time to catch the very end of the talk. There was another round of polite applause, and Drake passed Lamia off to an assistant handler to return her to her enclosure, before setting his sights on you. He smirked when he saw you already watching him and made to step down from the platform.

You panicked when you saw him approaching and turned away hastily, pretending to be absorbed in the scaly inhabitants of a nearby enclosure. But you were too focused on calming your rapidly beating heart to take in any of the information on the display sign.

“Ah, _Tiliqua rugosa_.” You shivered at how close his voice sounded, enough to almost feel the warmth of his breath. “The Shingleback Skink. An unusual species in that they are one of the only known reptiles who exhibit monogamy. Every year during breeding season, they seek out the same partner, sometimes for up to twenty years.”

You felt him brush your arm as he moved to lean against the railing beside you. You could feel the weight of his gaze, boring into you with curiosity, but you still couldn’t find the courage to look him in the eye.

“It’s rather romantic, don’t you think?”

Your hands tightened on the railing until your knuckles blanched. God, could this man get any more attractive?

He continued without waiting for your reply.

“Drake,” he offered, extending his hand.

You took it tentatively and gave your name in return.

“[Name].” The way he said it was as if he was tasting the word on his tongue. He seemed to like the way it sounded, but if he only knew the effect it was having on _you_ … “I’ve been seeing you here a lot lately.”

Even though you couldn’t see his face, you could hear the smirk in his voice. He knew exactly why you were here—he just wanted to hear you admit it.

“I like turtles,” you blurted out, immediately regretting the words the second they left your mouth. You finally turned to him and blushed. “Uh, I mean… I like to come see them. They’re my favourite…” you stuttered, trailing off.

Drake laughed and _God_ , even his laugh was attractive. “Turtles are nice. But my personal favourite…” Goosebumps broke out over your skin as he laid his hand on your arm, gently directing to an enclosure beside the one you were at. “…is the bearded dragon.”

You smiled at the lizards basking under the heat lamps. “They’re so cute,” you admitted, proud of yourself for not stuttering this time. You pointed to an orange one lazing on a rock embedded in the sand. “That one kind of looks like you,” you teased.

“…Are you calling me cute?” The amusement in his voice was plain and clear.

Those words made you freeze, and once again you felt heat explode across your cheeks.

“I, uh… no! I mean, you’re not _not_ cute, I just…” You realised you were rambling and cleared your throat, smiling up at him sheepishly. “I guess I am?”

You couldn’t believe you had just said that to his face. What had you been saying about crawling into a hollow log? Perhaps it was time to do just that.

But Drake did the unexpected.

He smirked and reached into his pocket to pull out a pen. He gestured for you to hand over the zoo map that was becoming increasingly crumpled in your clenched and shaking fist. He scribbled something across the page, then handed it back.

“I hope to see you next Sunday,” he said. “If not sooner.”

With a wink and one final smirk, he was gone. You looked down at the map in your hand to find a phone number scrawled across its surface and a message beneath it:

“ _Call me if you ever want to handle a real snake~ ;)_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> Yes there will be a smut sequel to this some time. Don't ask when, that is up to the Smut Gods to decide.


End file.
